Pokéathlon - Compete for the Supreme Cup
by RaiRaichu
Summary: Twenty young trainers have gathered from Johto and beyond to compete for the Pokéathlon Supreme Cup! Heather, a rising rookie, is competing for the tenth time in this all-encompassing competition containing all ten of Johto's Pokéathlon events. Will her long-time rivals, or the competing Hoenn Pokéathlon champion, drag her down? Or will Heather rise above to grasp the Supreme Cup?
1. A Champion In Our Midst

The sun was rising, reflecting off the glass ceilings of the Pokéathlon Dome, as Heather finished her warm-up jog with her Pokémon at Johto's National Park. Reaching back to adjust her long and dark brown, windswept hair, she approached the building confidently.

This was the tenth time Heather would be competing in the open-class Pokéathlon. By winning this Pokéathlon, she would be allowed to compete in the Pokéathlon's Supreme Cup. Usually, Heather spent her time competing on the Power or Speed Courses, but today, a special tournament was being held, pushing trainers through a five-day competition containing all ten the Pokéathlon's events. Not only would she gain access to the Supreme Course, but she would have her name forever engraved into a plaque inside the dome's trophy room and be remembered as a champion.

Heather was greeted with smiles and waves as she entered the Pokéathlon Dome. As a quickly rising rookie, she was becoming quite well-known at the Johto Pokéathlon. The woman at the front desk, Elle, who was around Heather's age, greeted her cheerily as well. The Pokéathlete retrieved her ID from the light-yellow drawstring-bag strapped to her back and slid the card across the counter to Elle. In turn, Elle made small talk while scanning Heather's Pokéathlete ID to register her for the tournament.

"Earling morning, huh?" Elle said, yawning as she greeted her friend.

"Not for me," Heather smirked, feeling wide awake because of nerves.

"Are those new shorts?" Elle squealed, admiring the aqua, mesh athletic shorts Heather wore. "Did you get those for today? They totally match your head honcho," Elle continued, referring to Heather's Feraligatr who was continually her team's point leader.

"Yeah, they are! Thanks," Heather blushed, feeling self-conscious and pulling her short shorts down an inch.

"I'm rooting for you today—don't tell anyone!" Elle whispered before laughing loudly. She handed Heather's ID back to her over the counter.

"Thanks, Elle. At least someone is. I hear Lilith has been waiting to take me out as soon as I get into the Supreme Cup," Heather replied. "She's had some kind of problem with me ever since I defeated her at Professor's Elm lab seven years ago when we first got our Pokémon."

"Lilith is all talk! She thinks she's special because she's a gym leader now. It doesn't give her any superiority over anyone else in this competition," Elle sighed, turning to her computer and typing something into a form.

"Are you two going to chat all day, or are you going to do your job?"

Heather turned around on the spot to see who the rude comment had come from. She had never spoken to the boy who stood behind her, only seen him competing on some of the Stamina and Power Courses with her. He was also her age, around eighteen, and had shoulder-length red hair that was pulled back into a slick ponytail. The boy was slim, but had broad shoulders, which a black t-shirt stretched over.

"Excuse me, sir," Elle sneered sarcastically, "but we employees at the Pokéathlon reserve the right to refuse service to anyone."

"I just need to register for the tournament, please," the boy scoffed, sliding his ID over the counter. Heather glanced down at it, trying to find his name before Elle pulled it away.

"Ah, Spade Deno," Elle mumbled, recognizing his name. "Can't remember you being so rude any other time I've registered you."

"Usually you're doing your job," Spade grumbled, looking away from Elle. She slapped his ID back on the black marble counter, and he snatched it up, hurrying to the locker rooms.

"Some people," Elle grinned, watching as Spade slipped into the back hallway. "He's such a cutie, though."

Heather shook her head at her friend's antics, giggling to herself. "Yeah, if you say so, Elle. I better get going so I'm not late when they call us into the stadium."

"Good luck!" Elle called after as Heather made her way to the women's locker room.

"Thanks, again!" Heather turned to wave, before dashing down the hallway Spade had recently disappeared down.

Heather was ambushed by two blondes as she pushed through the girl's locker room door, her friend Clover, and cousin, Trina. Clover was shorter than Trina by about a foot, and younger than the cousins by a year. Clover wore her hair down while Trina had hers in the same fashion as Heather. They crushed her in hug, both talking animatedly about the competition.

"My brother is competing today!" Heather was able to make out of Clover's squealing, while from Trina, she managed to hear, "I'm scared! I heard there is a former Pokéathlon Tournament champion from Hoenn competing today!"

"Guys, chill," Heather gasped, forcing her friends to release their grip on her. "First, Clover, I'm glad to hear your brother is competing. He hasn't participated in a competition here for a while. Trina—calm down. We just all have to do our best, no matter who we're up against."

"Oh, Heather, you're so inspiring," a girl jeered sardonically, approaching the other three. "I'm sure you're giving your pathetic friends lots of hope."

"Lauren," Heather said curtly, turning around slowly to face the chimp-faced girl. Her hair was pulled back in the same fashion as Heather's—a high ponytail. Heather fingers instantly itched to remove her hair from its binding.

"Wow, you look great today," Lauren continued in the same tone of voice, looking Heather down from head to toe. Heather pulled down on the hem of her red t-shirt nervously and straightened her shorts.

"Too bad I can't say the same for you," Heather muttered, feeling pathetic. She was looking steadily down at the ground.

"Attention all Pokéathletes! Attention, all Pokéathletes!" Elle's voice rang over the building's PA system. "Please report to the main stadium with your first three Pokémon for the first event. That is all!"

"Guess I'll see you out there," Lauren smirked, turning on her heel, and marching out the locker room door into the stadium.

Heather sighed, pulling her hair out of her ponytail and running her fingers through her hair to smooth it. She then grabbed her bag that contained her Poké Balls and turned back to her friends. "Let's get out there."

"Don't worry, Heather! We'll all show her!" Clover cheered, grasping her friends' arms and dragging them out onto the field.

"Yeah, you'll do great," another snide voice said sarcastically. Heather grunted, but did not respond as Lilith bumped Heather's shoulder hard while passing her to enter the field.

The crowd roared as the Pokéathletes entered the stadium. Some held pink or green fluorescent posters with names of Pokéathletes and their Pokémon, cheering them on to victory. Heather grinned as she spotted several sporting her name, surrounded by the names of her beloved Pokémon.

"You see that, Heather?" Clover asked, pointing out one of the signs. "People know you're someone worth cheering for. You always do great in these competitions."

"Thanks," Heather muttered meekly, giving a quick hug to her younger friend.

"But that's not to say that I won't beat you!" Brogan, another one of Heather's friends, laughed, approaching the two with a grin. Her hair, recently dyed a pinkish-violet color, was pulled into a tight ponytail, half her bangs draping over her tanned face. With a toss of her head, her bangs were thrown back.

"Brogan!" Heather exclaimed, hugging her friend tightly. "I didn't know you were coming!"

"Neither did I," Brogan shrugged. "That is, until Aerodactyl flew me here on a whim."

"I wish I had a Pokémon to fly on," Clover sighed dreamily. "But Shelgon and Swablu are yet to evolve."

"Clover, I told you not to worry about that!" Deka finally made his appearance, coming up behind his sister. "Hey, Heather—Brogan. You guys seen Trina?"

"She came out here with us, but—"

"Wooper!" A boy, the same age as Heather and her friends, pushed through their social circle, chasing a small, blue Pokémon that ran through the feet of the Pokéathletes.

"Woopa!" the Pokémon cried back, diving in between the legs of Lauren, who shrieked loudly.

Heather watched the brown-haired boy run. A grin tugged on the corners of her mouth as the boy dived for his Wooper, knocking over Rachael, another rather obnoxious competitor. "There sure are some idiots in the competition. But then again, there's a Hoenn champion competing this time—he must be great."


	2. Event 1 - Snow Throw

Ten minutes later, Heather stood in front of a jumbo-sized screen, waiting for the tournament bracket for the first event to show up. She was hesitant to see who she was competing against, and she prayed that it was not Spade, Lilith, or Lauren so early on in the competition. Finally, the screen pinged, and the five brackets dividing the twenty competitors into groups of four appeared. Pictures and names with lines in between them and squares around them popped into view, and Heather's eyes frantically searched the board.

Heather was in the second bracket, with, to her dismay, Spade. She sighed, telling herself he might only be in this event with her; he could be placed in another bracket every other event, even though she knew it was more than likely for her to be placed with him again.

The other two competitors were both boys around her age like Spade. One competitor, named Free (she was informed by the bracket), was the boy she had seen chasing after his Wooper. She hadn't gotten a good look at him earlier, but if he wouldn't have seemed like such an idiot, Heather would have found him cute. Gibby was the other Pokéathlete, a plain-looking boy with a chubby face and curly, dirty-blonde hair pulled back into a low ponytail, whom she had competed with before. She knew he only competed with Teddiursa and its evolution, Ursaring.

"Hey, that's you on the screen next to me!"

Heather's thoughts were interrupted as someone tapped her shoulder. She automatically stepped away and looked for the speaker. It was Free, holding his Wooper.

Surveying the trainer, Heather stuck out her hand and Free shook it, letting go over Wooper with one arm and holding him tighter with the other. "I'm Heather Glacies. I saw you chasing your Wooper earlier."

Free laughed nervously, "Ha! Yeah. Wooper gets into all sorts of trouble—don't ya, buddy? At least he didn't try to get a peek up your shorts like those girls over there." He pointed at Lauren and Rachael who chatted animatedly on a bench. "Oh, by the way! I'm Free. Free Flarez."

It was Heather's turn to laugh now. Suddenly, things got quiet and awkward. Heather sighed, "Well, I'm going to head off to competition field. I guess I'll see you then, Free."

"Yeah, see you," Free sighed as well, taking a separate way to the field.

The first event in the competition was the Snow Throw. Being in the second bracket allowed Heather to watch the other competitors in the first bracket compete first. Lilith was in the first round, along with Clover's brother Deka, and Clover herself. The fourth competitor, Heather didn't recognize. He was thin with a little muscle, and had inky-blue hair that was spiked up at the front. It made Heather smile to know that Lilith was up against two of her friends, and by the looks of things, the trainer she did not recognize seemed to have exceptionally skilled Pokémon. Could he be the Hoenn champion?

A loud buzzer went off, ending the event. Deka's Toxicroak was the first to freeze, followed by Lilith's Typhlosion, and each trainers' Pokémon dropped any snow they were holding. Deka and Lilith looked like they could have tied, but a video would have to be reviewed after the event to see just how many hits each of their Pokémon got. After a few minutes, the trainers and their Pokémon were off of the field, and the second bracket competitors were allowed to enter the field. Heather watched as Spade sneered at Free, who looked just as confused as Heather felt about why Spade would already be glaring at him. Gibby stood off to the side, looking at the fans crowding the stands.

"Pokéathletes, choose your Pokémon!" the Pokéathlon's announcer's voice boomed across the stadium, interrupting Heather's thoughts.

From the bag on her back, Heather retrieved the Poké Balls of the three Pokémon competing in this event. "Let's do this, guys!" Heather shouted, tossing each ball in front of her. From the Poké Balls brilliant light emerged Sneasel, Gengar, and Muk.

The Pokéathlete glanced at her competitors, and saw from Free, a Bayleef, Heracross, and Poliwhirl; from Spade, an Electivire, Infernape, and Machamp; and from Gibby, two Teddiursa and an Ursaring. Free was glancing nervously at Spade's Machamp, and Spade stared ahead, looking bored. Gibby was hugging both of his Teddiursa, while Ursaring quite literally bear-hugged the three of them.

"Pokémon, take your places!" the announcer continued. Heather gave her Pokémon a reassuring smile, which they returned, before they stepped forward. The other trainers were lead to their own sides of the square, snow-filled field and settled behind the line. Free was to her left, Gibby to her right, and Spade straight across from her. "You may begin in three...two...one!"

"Let's go guys!" Heather shouted as her adrenaline hit her. Her Pokémon cheered in response, each packing together a snowball.

Spade's Machamp had an advantage, being able to gather two snowballs at once with his four hands, but Heather's Pokémon were exceptional at dodging. With Sneasel's speed and Keen Eye ability, she was able to dart to the sides and hurl a snowball, hitting each opponent without fail. However, if a ball did hit, it took a moment for Sneasel to recover. Muk, although slow, was an amorphous being and could adjust his size to duck an incoming ball. Each snowball Muk gathered was also unintentionally coated in thick sludge, securing harder hits. And as a ghost-type, Gengar was also able to phase from place to place, although some Pokémon guessed correctly and were able to secure a hit while he became translucent.

Gibby's Pokémon seemed to be getting hit much of the time without returning any of the hits. His Teddiursa had weak throws, although they had very good aim. Ursaring could land big hits, but was a large target.

Spade seemed to be taking advantage of Gibby's disadvantage by aiming for him fifty percent of the time. His Infernape and Machamp were able to quickly pack the snow into balls and hit often, while Electivire was a power-thrower.

Free didn't aim for anyone in particular. Instead of throwing snowballs, Poliwhirl quickly packed dozens of balls, loading them into two piles for Bayleef and Heracross. Bayleef was able to launch ball after ball with a Vine Whip attack, and she had impeccable aim. Heracross used his horn to launch a multitude of snowballs, more than three balls often hitting his target.

From Heather's right, she heard Gibby talking to his Pokémon, "Alright, Ursaring, Teddiursa! Remember what we practiced!"

"Ursa!" Ursaring replied scooping two Teddiursa, both a couple snowballs, into his arms and tossing them into the air. From the aerial perspective, the two short, bear Pokémon were able to aim better and land several hits to Spade's Pokémon before falling to the plush, snowy ground.

"Damnit!" Spade growled, realizing that Gibby wasn't as disadvantaged as he had thought.

Heather couldn't help but admire Gibby's strategy, as her main strategy for almost all events was speed and power, much like her Pokémon were demonstrating now.

After a particularly hard hit consisting of two snowballs from Machamp, Sneasel fell to the ground. Sneasel scoffed, and Heather knew her Pokémon wanted revenge.

"Sneasel, you gotta keep cool," Heather said calmly, trying to sooth her hot-headed Pokémon. Sneasel scoffed again, but nodded. She dodged an incoming snowball quickly before taking a deep breath and hurling a well-aimed ball directly at Machamp's face. The ball hit square on, and Heather cheered.

Almost too soon, it seemed, the buzzer went off and the Snow Throw event had ended. Heather was pleased with her Pokémon's performance, although she couldn't help but worry that her competitors had done better. Free had undeniably scored high, as much as she hated to admit it. He had seemed like such an idiot earlier. His strategy was almost fail-proof. Before returning her Pokémon, Heather hugged Gengar, and then Sneasel as much as Sneasel would let her (she really wasn't a touchy-feely Pokémon). She reluctantly high-fived Muk, which was an unpleasant experience, but it was the best she could offer, besides her words of praise, to her beloved pile of sludge.

Twenty young trainers stood nervously in front of the jumbo-screen, waiting for their scores to be posted. Most were standing in groups; almost everyone had found someone friendly to have a conversation with. As her girl friends squealed over the looks of one of the competitors, a tall boy in a green sports jacket with straight, dirty blonde hair, Heather was taking her time to scope out the other competitors.

Out of the twenty, she had only known, or known of, eleven of the competitors previous to this competition. Out of the other nine, one could be the rumored Hoenn Pokéathlon champion, but Heather was having trouble picking out the most likely candidate. Free—the only new competitor she knew the name of—seemed like an idiot, but he was talking to a bulkier boy in a red t-shirt she did not recognize. There was also the boy with the dark hair who had competed against Deka and Clover during their Snow Toss who seemed to be flirting with a thin girl with long, black hair. The boy seemed to have skilled Pokémon, so he might be the champion. Standing alone, scribbling in a small notepad, was a boy with hair so light, it almost looked white. Heather had also never seen him before.

"How do you think you did?" Deka interrupted Heather's thoughts, stepping forward next to Heather and nudging her side with his elbow.

"Well enough," Heather grunted, snapping her attention to Clover's brother. "You look like you killed it out there."

"Yeah, I guess I kind of am pretty damn good," Deka smirked cockily. Heather smacked his arm playfully. "Kidding, kidding. Geez, no need to get violent. I think you might have won your round. But that boy with the Bayleef was pretty good, too. Not to mention Spade…"

"Thanks, Deka" Heather replied. She paused for a moment before continuing, "Did you hear there was a Hoenn champion competing today?"

"Yeah, I heard," Deka groaned. "I don't know who it is, though. Hoenn has plenty of Pokéathlon champions, I'm sure. And I don't exactly follow Pokéathlon news from other countries. Who'd you hear it from?"

"Trina," Heather answered, tilting her head in her cousin's direction. "She was spazzing earlier in the locker room."

Deka cheeks pinked at the mention of her cousin. He had always had a small crush on the blonde girl, especially since she was friends with his sister and Heather, so she had always been around. "I bet she was," Deka sighed, looking away to hide his face. Luckily for him, the jumbo-screen blinked, and the scores were on the board.

Heather's eyes jumped to bracket two and instantly groaned. She hadn't done bad. In fact, she had done better than she ever had. But, above her name on the list by two points and one snowball hit, was Free with a perfect score of 200 points and 67 hits. Under her name in third place was Spade with 165 points and 55 hits, and then in last, Gibby with 96 points and 32 hits.

Next, Heather looked for her friends' names on the lists. In the first bracket, Deka had gotten first, followed by Trix—the boy with the inky-hair. In third, to her disappointment, was Lilith, and last was Clover. In the third bracket, Brogan had come out on top of three competitors she did not recognize the names of: a boy named Sin, a girl named Blaire, and another boy named Freddy. Bracket four's point leader was a boy named Stets. In second was a boy named Kageon that Heather saw every now and again around the Pokéathlon Dome but had never talked to. After Kageon was Lauren, and then a girl named Abby that she did not know previously. Finally, in bracket five, was Trina at the top, followed by a boy named Track, another boy named Raver, and Rachael—a girl Heather found rather obnoxious.

"Hey, you did fantastic!" a boy said from behind Heather, gripping her elbow lightly. She turned and found Free, who was holding a squirming Wooper with his other arm. He released her arm and returned it to his chest to keep Wooper in his arms better.

"It really was a close one, wasn't it?" Heather smiled genuinely. "And you got a perfect score! That's incredible."

"Well… it was nothing really," Free mumbled shyly. "Really, it was my Pokémon who did it all. And you've got some amazing Pokémon."

Heather opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off by Trina, "Hey, Heather. We're all heading out to eat. You coming with?"

"Sure, just a second," she answered her cousin. She smiled at Free again before following after her friends. "I'll see you next event, Free."

"Yeah," Free nodded, returning her smile. "Later!"


End file.
